PAROLE  IN  NORTH 


CAROLINA 


McAlister 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


Cp365 

Klip 


Parole  in  North 
Carolina 


A.  w.  McAlister 


Reprinted  from  The  Journal  of  Social  Forces 

January,  1923 


PAROLE  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA* 


WITHIN  a  few  steps  of  this  place  of  our 
assemblage,  just  across  the  street  in  the 
next  block,  is  the  place  of  the  birth  and 
the  boyhood  of  the  greatest  short  story  writer 
who  ever  lived.  Maupassant  is  not  even  his  close 
second,  the  critics  to  the  contrary  notwithstand¬ 
ing.  Let  us  think  for  a  moment  what  it  would 
have  meant  to  William  Sydney  Porter  or  O. 
Henry,  if  as  he  faced  the  penalty  of  the  law  for 
the  offense  which  he  probably  never  committed, 
the  law  had  held  out  to  him  anything  to 
hearten  or  encourage.  Think  of  the  degradation 
that  he  suffered  to  no  purpose,  and  think  of  the 
years  of  creative  fruitfulness  that  were  lost  to 
the  world  while  he  was  ground  down  in  prison, 
all  because  the  law  lacked  the  intelligence  to  see 
that  he  was  entitled  to  a  chance.  An  intelligent 
and  humane  parole  might  have  saved  to  O.  Henry 
the  man  those  desolating  days,  and  might  have 
given  to  O.  Henry  the  writer  added  years  for 


*  Address  delivered  at  the  last  annual  convention  of  the  North 
Caroling  Conference  for  Social  Service  in  Greensboro. 


[1] 


the  exercise  of  his  amazing  alchemy.  It  is  alto¬ 
gether  fitting  that  here  almost  within  the  shadow 
of  the  birthplace  of  this  victim  of  the  law’s  unin¬ 
telligence,  the  North  Carolina  Conference  for 
Social  Service  should  enter  upon  its  first  study 
of  this  subject  of  parole. 

It  may  be  interesting  also  to  mention  by  way 
of  preface  that  this  subject  of  parole  was  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  Conference  by  the  Men’s 
Club  of  a  church.  This  is  especially  interesting 
because  it  is  a  new  thing  in  the  experience  of  the 
Conference  to  have  any  subject  of  any  kind 
brought  to  it  by  a  church.  Let  us  hope  that  this 
may  be  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  closer  relations 
between  the  churches  and  the  Conference,  for 
surely  it  is  neither  illogical  nor  unscriptural  for 
an  organization  like  this,  committed  to  the  service 
of  humanity,  to  have  the  warmest,  most  whole 
hearted  support  and  cooperation  from  an  insti¬ 
tution  founded  upon  the  teachings  of  Him  who 
said  “if  any  would  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be 
your  servant,”  and  who  both  by  precept  and  ex¬ 
ample  placed  the  supreme  emphasis  upon  service 
to  your  fellow  man.  The  suggestion  from  the 
Men’s  Club  of  the  church  referred  to  grew  out 
of  their  experience  in  an  effort  to  secure  the 
parole  of  a  man  sentenced  to  the  county  convict 


[2] 


camp  upon  evidence  that  was  not  conclusive,  and 
whose  family,  which  included  several  small  chil¬ 
dren,  was  left  in  a  state  of  extreme  destitution. 

J'p  crown  this  man’s  misfortune,  immediately  follow¬ 
ing  his  imprisonment,  his  seventeen  year  old 
daughter,  the  only  support  of  the  family  after 
he  was  taken  away,  went  down  with  a  serious 
sickness  of  two  months’  duration.  If  there  ever 
was  a  case  for  the  exercise  by  the  law  of  an  in¬ 
telligent  and  humane  initiative  this  was  one. 

The  results  in  this  case  justified  all  the  effort 
and  thought  and  interest  that  were  put  into  it. 
It  saved  a  man  and  a  man’s  family.  That  man 
since  his  release  from  the  chain  gang  has  a  record 
of  good  citizenship.  He  has  conducted  himself 
as  a  self  respecting  man,  he  has  supported  his 
family,  he  has  won  the  respect  of  his  neighbors, 
he  has  built  a  house  for  his  family,  and  he  and 
his  wife  have  joined  the  church.  What  would 
have  been  the  probable  fate  of  that  man  and  his 
family  if  after  his  imprisonment  and  disgrace 
they  had  been  left  to  look  out  for  themselves  ? 

May  I  cite  another  case?  Some  time  ago  two 
seventeen  year  old  boys  were  convicted  on  their 
own  submission  in  the  superior  court  of  Guilford 
county  of  holding-up  and  robbing  a  man  of  six 
dollars  and  a  pocket  knife.  They  were  first 


[3] 


offenders  and  proved  a  previous  record  of  good 
conduct.  It  is  not  known  whether  they  were 
playing  Robin  Hood,  or  imitating  some  similar 
episode  which  they  had  witnessed  in  a  moving 
picture  theatre,  or  reenacting  some  story  that  they 
had  found  in  our  current  literature.  It  is  not 
known  what  influenced  these  boys  of  previous 
good  character  to  break  loose  as  highway  rob¬ 
bers,  but  they  were  sentenced  to  one  year  on  the 
county  roads,  the  lightest  sentence  the  judge 
could  pronounce  under  the  law.  The  kindly 
judge  told  them  that  five  years  was  the  usual 
penalty  for  such  an  offense  but  that  he  would  do 
the  best  he  could  for  them  and  make  it  one.  Now 
what  will  that  minimum  penalty,  minimum  pen¬ 
alty  alone,  do  for  those  boys?  One  year  on  the 
roads,  in  the  county  convict  camp,  in  association 
with  hardened  criminals,  under  the  tutelage  of 
the  average  convict  guard.  What  sort  of  a  chance 
is  that  for  any  boy?  What  sort  of  a  chance 
would  it  be  for  your  boy  or  mine  ?  What  escape 
from  moral  ruin  is  there  for  those  boys?  They 
have  been  sentenced  to  a  career  of  rebellion 
^against  society  because  that  is  just  what  their  pun¬ 
ishment  is  designed  to  accomplish.  The  osten¬ 
sible  purpose  of  that  one  year’s  sentence  on  the 
roads  is  to  bring  those  boys  to  their  sober  senses 


[4] 


and  to  save  them;  but  we  know  that  nothing 
could  be  more  skillfully  designed  for  their  eternal 
damnation.  Now  let  us  suppose  that  it  had  been 
the  duty  and  privilege  of  our  superintendent  of 
public  welfare,  as  the  county  parole  officer,  to  go 
to  see  these  boys  at  the  beginning  of  the  serving 
of  their  sentence  and  show  them  her  interest  and 
friendship  and  give  them  encouragement.  And 
let  us  suppose  that  as  the  representative  of  the 
law  she  could  say  to  them,  ‘‘you  haven’t  come  to 
the  end  of  things,  you  have  played  the  wild  and 
the  fool,  but  there  is  another  chance  for  you  if 
you  have  got  it  in  you  to  take  that  chance.  If 
you  will  behave  yourself  while  you  are  here,  I 
will  take  you  out  and  find  a  job  for  you  and  be 
your  friend,  and  you  can  stay  out  as  long  as  you 
behave  yourself,  and  will  report  to  me  once  a 
week  and  satisfy  me  that  you  are  doing  your 
duty;  but  if  you  have  not  the  sand  to  do  that, 
you  will  have  to  come  back  here  and  serve  the 
rest  of  your  sentence.  Here  is  your  chance  for^ 
freedom,  for  manhood,  and  for  happiness.  Will 
you  take  it  ?”  That  would  give  those  boys  some-^ 
thing  to  work  for  and  live  for.  What  actually 
happened  was  that  an  organization  of  boys  in  a 
local  church  and  the  county  superintendent  of 
public  welfare  took  an  interest  in  these  boys, 

[5] 


regularly  “visited  them  in  prison/’  got  a  job  ready 
for  them,  and  secured  their  parole.  These  boys 
went  to  work,  behaved  themselves,  and  made 
good. 

This  is  an  example  brought  near  home  of  what 
this  thing  of  parole  would  do,  if  this  sort  of 
humane  and  intelligent  application  of  it  could  be 
made  promptly  and  systematically  by  county  au¬ 
thorities  to  prisoners  in  county  institutions. 

This  case,  so  splendidly  illustrative  of  the 
principle,  brings  us  squarely  up  before  the  propo¬ 
sition  of  a  county  system  of  parole.  The  only 
real  solution  of  the  prison  problem  is  a  unified 
state  system  under  which  all  prisoners  would  be 
confined  in  state  institutions,  in  which  the  follow- 
ing  facilities  would  be  furnished  for  the  training 
of  convicts  in  good  citizenship : 

1.  Mental  and  physical  examination  with  spe- 
^  cial  treatment  when  required. 

2.  Work  which  teaches  each  man  a  trade. 

3.  Resident  chaplains  who  keep  in  touch  with 
every  prisoner. 

4.  An  efficient  state  parole  system. 

5.  Compulsory  education  for  illiterates  and 
educational  opportunity  for  all. 


[61 


6.  Just  enough  recreation  to  give  zest  to  the 
work  required,  and  such  as  will  contribute  to 
mental,  physical  and  moral  well-being. 

This  is  the  ideal  system  which  we  should  never 
lose  sight  of  and  which  North  Carolina  must  have 
in  due  time.  However,  we  are  going  to  have  to 
wait  until  taxpayers  are  willing  to  see  their 
money  literally  poured  into  the  equipment  that  is 
necessary  for  the  reclaiming  care  of  those  in  con¬ 
finement  for  violation  of  law.  We  are  going  to 
have  to  wait  until  legislatures  have  caught  a  vision 
of  service  in  prison  administration,  and  until  they 
have  attained  to  such  an  estimate  of  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  good  in  the  sane  and  humane  applica¬ 
tion  of  penalties,  that  they  will  be  unwilling  to 
see  prison  efficiency  hampered  by  political  en¬ 
tanglements.  We  are  going  to  have  to  wait  until 
counties  are  unwilling  any  longer  to  exploit  their 
prisoners  for  profit.  In  the  meantime,  it  would 
seem  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom,  as  long  as  counties 
insist  upon  handling  their  prisoners,  to  evolve  a 
county  system  that  will  go  as  far  as  practicable 
in  securing  to  the  prisoners  the  benefits  such  as 
we  have  described  as  appertaining  to  the  ideal 
state  system.  Something,  but  not  a  great  deal, 
can  be  done  in  the  direction  of  mental  and  phy¬ 
sical  examination  of  county  prisoners  with  spe- 


[7] 


dal  treatment ;  something  perhaps,  but  very  little, 
can  be  done  by  way  of  providing  vocational  work 
for  county  prisoners ;  something,  but  not  much, 
can  be  done  towards  providing  the  individual  ser¬ 
vice  of  chaplains ;  something,  but  in  a  very  lim¬ 
ited  way,  can  be  done  towards  furnishing  any 
educational  opportunity  to  those  Confined  in  jails 
or  on  chain  gangs;  little  if  any  recreation  can  be 
provided.  But  a  county  system  of  parole  can  be 
worked  out  whose  benefits  will  be  boundless  in 
the  reclamation  of  men. 

/  It  so  happens  that  we  have  already  to  our  hand 
in  our  county  departments  of  public  welfare  the 
very  machinery  needed  for  a  county  system  of 
parole.  If  our  county  departments  of  public  wel¬ 
fare  had  been  designed  for  the  deliberate  purpose 
of  administering  satisfactorily  the  parole  of 
county  prisoners,  they  would  have  been  planned 
pretty  nearly  as  now  constituted.  Add  to  the 
county  board  of  public  welfare,  the  juvenile  court 
judge  and  possibly  the  sheriff  -on  account  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  prisoners  dealt  with,  and  you 
will  have  an  ideal  county  board  of  parole.  The 
law  already  designates  the  county  superintendent 
as  parole  officer,  and  such  assistant  parole  officers 
as  may  be  needed  can  be  provided  for  by  legis- 


[8] 


lation.  There  you  already  have  the  machinery 
set  up,  and  all  you  have  to  do  it  to  set  it  in 
motion. 

No  county  board  of  parole  should  be  allowed 
to  function  until  adequate  parole-officer  provision 
has  been  made  nor  until  the  consent  of  the  com¬ 
missioner  of  public  welfare  has  been  obtained. 

I  will  not  undertake  to  outline  in  detail,  but 
only  in  general  terms,  the  legislation  that  will  be 
required.  The  courts  of  some  states  have  held 
that  the  power  of  parole  is  part  of  the  pardoning 
power,  The  courts  of  other  states  have  held  that 
it  is  not.  If  our  supreme  court  should  hold  that 
the  power  of  parole  is  part  of  the  pardoning 
power,  there  would  be  a  constitutional  obstacle 
to  the  exercise  of  parole  power  by  county  boards 
of  parole;  but  in  that  case,  the  power  of  recom¬ 
mendation  of  parole  could  be  given  to  county 
boards  of  parole,  with  the  final  granting  of  it  in 
the  hands  of  the  governor  as  at  present.  This 
check  upon  hasty  and  ill-advised  parole,  involved 
in  the  governor’s  approval,  would  probably  be  a 
wholesome  thing  in  the  working  of  a  parole  sys¬ 
tem.  At  any  rate  it  would  not  be  fatal  to  the 
proposed  plan.  All  such  recommendations  to  the 
governor  should  first  be  approved  or  disapproved 
by  the  solicitor  of  the  district,  as  this  would  be 


[9] 


an  additional  check  against  the  reckless  granting 
of  parole  by  irresponsible  county  boards.  The 
approval  of  the  superior  court  judge  should  not 
be  required  as  under  the  present  law  the  judicial 
itinerary  frequently  renders  the  judge  difficult  of 
access.  Some  legislation  will  be  needed : 

1.  A  maximum  sentence  law  under  which  the 
term  of  the  sentence  could  be  reduced  at  any 
time  that  the  parole  board  should  judge  it  to  be 
desirable.  Probation,  in  some  instances,  for 
adults  also  seems  desirable. 

2.  A  law  creating  county  boards  of  parole  and 
defining  their  powers. 

3.  A  law  requiring  notice  of  commitments  to 
be  given  to  the  county  parole  officer,  and  pre¬ 
scribing  his  duties,  such  as  immediate  interview 
with  the  prispner,  investigation  of  his  physical 
condition,  history  and  previous  environment, 
training,  companions,  habits,  education,  vocation 
and  social  attitude ;  supervision  during  the  period 
of  parole,  employment  during  and  at  expiration 
of  parole,  provision  at  time  of  parole  for  suitable 
clothing  and  other  necessities.  No  prisoner  - 
should  be  released  on  parole  until  satisfactory 
arrangements  have  been  made  for  his  or  her  hon¬ 
orable  and  useful  employment  in  some  suitable 


[10] 


occupation  and  also  for  a  proper  and  suitable 
home,  free  from  criminal  influences. 

4.  A  law  or  rules  providing  for  the  selection 
and  investigation  of  a  sponsor  or  first  friend  for 
each  paroled  prisoner,  this  sponsor  or  first  friend 
to  keep  the  parole  officer  informed  as  to  the  con¬ 
duct,  occupation,  home  surroundings  and  employ¬ 
ment  of  his  charge. 

5.  A  law  making  it  the  duty  of  prison  authori¬ 
ties  whenever  a  prisoner  is  paroled  to  notify  the 
superintendent  of  public  welfare  of  the  county  to 
which  the  prisoner  is  returned,  accompanying  said 
notice  with  a  copy  of  his  prison  record  and  any 
information  upon  which  his  parole  was  based. 
The  law  should  prescribe  a  penalty  for  non-per¬ 
formance  of  this  duty.  The  county  superintend¬ 
ent  or  parole  officer  should  make  at  least  monthly 
reports  to  some  central  state  authority  as  to  con¬ 
duct,  habits,  health,  employment  and  associations 
of  such  paroled  state  prisoner.  Provision  should 
be  made  for  such  state  parole  officers  as  may  be 
necessary  to  supplement  the  county  parole  officers. 

6.  A  law  placing  the  appointment  of  county 
superintendents  or  parole  officers  in  the  hands  of 
county  boards  of  public  welfare,  so  as  to  remove 
this  responsible  office  from  the  control  or 
manipulation  of  politics. 


[11] 


7.  Provision  for  such  adequate  compensation 
for  parole  officers  as  to  command  a  high  type  of 
service.  In  other  words  the  position  of  parole 
officer  is  one  of  great  responsibility.  His  job  is 
the  fine  one  of  making  the  man  committed  to  his 
charge  want  to  be  a  good  citizen.  High  qualifi¬ 
cations  will  be  required  for  that  task.  There 
will  be  required  for  the  responsibilities  of  that 
position  the  same  type  of  men  and  women  as 
those  now  serving  most  successfully  as  superin¬ 
tendents  of  public  welfare,  and  as  secretaries  of 
our  Y.  M.  C.  A.’s,  Y.  W.  C.  A.’s  and  Chambers 
of  Commerce. 

Most  of  the  foregoing  provisions  can  probably 
be  incorporated  in  one  piece  of  legislation. 

In  order  that  definite  progress  may  be  made  by 
this  Conference  towards  the  extension  of  the 
benefits  of  parole  to  prisoners  sentenced  to  county 
institutions,  I  suggest: 

/  1.  That  the  Conference  go  on  record  as  favor¬ 

ing  a  county  parole  system,  until  such  time  as  it 
becomes  practical  for  the  state  to  handle  and  care 
for  county  prisoners. 

2.  That  a  committee  of  the  Conference  be  re¬ 
quested  to  draft  a  bill  or  bills  providing  for  such 
a  county  system  of  parole. 


3.  That  a  special  committee  be  appointed  by 
this  Conference  to  secure  the  enactment  of  such 
legislation  by  the  next  legislature. 

Let  us  not  leave  this  discussion  without  catch- 
ing  up  a  few  loose  threads.  An  efficient  parole 
system  does  not  wait  for  the  intercession  of^ 
relatives  and  friends  but  takes  the  initiative  and  \ 
makes  intelligent  application  of  parole  to  those  \ 
who  can  profit  by  it.  Only  those  can  profit  by^^ 
parole  in  whom  can  be  aroused  the  desire  to 
make  good  as  industrious  law-abiding  citizens. 
To  such  ones  parole  is  an  unmixed  blessing. 
Where  this  desire  is  lacking  parole  is  no  benefit 
to  anybody  and  should  not  be  resorted  to.  Prob¬ 
ably  the  best  evidence  of  this  favorable  state  ot  ? 
mind  is  furnished  by  a  period  of  good  behavipi 
under  restraint.  Parole  can  be  and  should  be  ex¬ 
tended  with  a  degree  of  cautious  freedom  in  the 
case  of  first  offenders,  but  with  extreme  caution 
to  repeaters,  if  at  all.  The  services  of  com¬ 
munity  organizations,  as  well  as  that  of  individ¬ 
uals,  such  as  Y.  M.  C.  A.’s,  Y.  W.  C.  A.’s,  the 
Salvation  Army,  Bible  classes,  churches.  Rotary, 
Kiwanis  and  Civitan  clubs  can  be  commandeered 
in  the  administration  of  parole  and  should  be 
used  freely.  The  granting  of  parole  is  such  a 
serious  responsibility  that  a  first  essential  to  any 

[13] 


satisfactory  system  is  properly  qualified  men  and 
women  as  members  of  parole  boards  and  as  parole 
’  officers. 

In  passing  let  me  set  at  rest  the  current  charge 
that  the  unwise  exercise  of  parole  is  responsible 
for  the  prevailing  increase  in  lawlessness.  This 
is  one  of  those  plausible  explanations  of  con¬ 
ditions  which  become  current  without  any  facts 
to  support  them.  There  is  no  evidence  whatever 
that  parole  intelligently  and  humanely  adminis¬ 
tered  is  not  a  highly  useful  agency  in  the  reclama¬ 
tion  of  men. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  epitomize  very  briefly. 
The  ultimate  goal  should  be  a  state  system  equip¬ 
ped  for  handling  all  prisoners  including  those  now 
committed  to  county  institutions;  but  until  the 
state  is  able  and  willing  to  develop  some  efficient 
and  humane  system,  and  as  long  as  prisoners  are 
committed  to  county  institutions,  a  county  sys¬ 
tem  of  parole,  with  our  present  county  welfare 
system  as  an  inexpensive  and  practical  basis  for 
its  development,  seems  to  give  promise  of  great 
usefulness  in  the  reclamation  of  men. 


[14] 


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